SHOOTING ON THE WING. 59 



COVERT SHOOTING. 



In covert slaooting, the same rules are applicable as we have 

 already laid down for open shooting; the only difference is that 

 Ave must be more fully on the qui vive to take advantage of all 

 and every chance, as we often only see the Bird for a moment, 

 and then it is lost to our sight among the trees or thick under- 

 wood ; and, as before remarked, we constantly kill Birds in thick 

 coppices without ever seeing them at all. 



A Snap Shot is more successful in the woods than a plain 

 shot ; and the reader should recollect that in firing snap shots, 

 the fault most generally committed is shooting under the Bird, 

 forgetting that the Bird is on the rise almost always when first 

 flushed. 



Never beat the bushes wdth your gun, or you may shoot a 

 favorite Dog, or perhaps, what would be a hundred times worse, 

 you may shoot a friend; the habit is an unsportsmanlike and 

 dangerous one, and should never be tolerated in a companion. 

 You cannot be too careful with your gun in covert shooting ; 

 its position should be watched with the most jealous attention, 

 and never for one moment neglected, more especially if shooting 

 in company ; for a twig or a bough may catch the hammer or 

 trigger at any moment, and commit perhaps irreparable injury 

 either to yourself or friend. Be ever cautious also in climbing 

 fences or jumping ditches. 



BOTH EYES OPEN. 



Some Shooters fire with both eyes wide open. This practice 

 is a mere peculiarity acquired by some ready shots, but which 

 does not possess a single advantage over the old style of closing 

 the left eye to recommend it to our notice. But, on the con- 

 trary, we are convinced that no one, except by very long prac- 

 tice, can shoot with the same degree of certainty with both eyes 

 open as they can when one is shut in the usual way. The man- 

 ner of acquiring this knack is to hold the eyes steadily upon 

 the object, bring the gun up to the proper position, and draw 

 upon the trigger without sighting down the barrel, the hand 



